blunden



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

Patented Oct. 3, 1893.

'( No Model.)

O. G. BLUNDEN. l APPARATUS POR PREPARING PHAT FOR FUEL.

2 Sheets'-Sheet 2,)

No. 506,151. Patented out. 3, 189s..

FIG.2.

.' I '71.001, f r:

UNITED STATES I *PATENT OFFICE.

OSMOND GILLES BLUNDEN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR PREPARING PEAT FORFUEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 506,151, dated October 3, 1893.

Application filed february 9, 189s. serie] Ne. 461.592. (No model.) retented in Engiend neeembef s, 1891, No. 21.481.

To aZZ whom it ma/yoncern:

Be it known that I, OsMoND GILLES BLUN- DEN, engineer, asubject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at No. 180 Cambridge street, Warwick Square, in the county 'of Middlesex, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for and the Method of Preparing Peat and Turf for Use as Fuel, (for which Letters Patent of Great Britain have been granted me bearing date the 8th day of December, 1891, No. 21,481,) of which the following is a specification.

Hilherto peat or turf when required for fuel has been simply pugged or ground and shaped into solid blocks and dried.

Now my invention consists in macerating and cutting the fibers and compressing the peat or turf into hollow cylindrical blocks, tubes, or other forms in order to accelerate the process of drying and condensing and also to aid the combustion of the fuel.

In order that my invention may be more fully understood and carried into practice I will now proceed to describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l represents a side elevation of amachine constructed according to this invention; Fig. 2 an end elevation of the same, and Fig. 3 a horizontal section taken across the center of the drum or cylinder of the apparatus. Figs. 4 and 5 represent detached parts of the said apparatus, and Fig. 6 is an end view of the drum or cylinder.

Similar reference letters are employed to indicate the same parts in all thelfgures of the drawings.

In carrying this invention into practical effect I employ a cutting and compressing machine as shown in the drawings consisting of a screw blade or. and cutting knives e rotating within a drum o1` cylinder b provided with a hopper c for the introduction of the peat to be treated. The end of this cylinder into which the peat first passes is provided with a number of longitudinal or spiral ribs or ridges m on its interior against which the peat is pressed and to a great extent broken up in its passage through the apparatus. The delivery end of the cylinder b I construct of taper-form and make the screw blade a of gradually decreasing diameter where it lies within as a revolving core to form the central open ing in the peat blocks.

Between each adjacent set of knives e (which are shown separatelyv at Fig. 4) is placed a wheel-like support f (shown separatelyIatFig. 5) the periphery of which is secured to the drum or cylinder b. The radial arms of these supports are each formed with a suitable shearing edge and thecutting blades c having similar shearing edges, revolving almost in contact with the same act with them to shear the fibers of the peat passing through the machine. I have found in practice that the best results are obtainable when the shearing blades or cutters have faces lying at right angles to one another. The screw blades or. feed the peat forward between the knives, by which its fibers are finely divided, into the taper portion of the cylinder. Here it is compressed by reason of the said taper form of the same and is ejected at the outlet at the end of the same in the form of a tube, the central aperture in which is formed by means of the core d as previously described. The continuous tube of peat thus delivered from the outlet of the machine is divided into lengths in the following mannerz-Immedi ately under the said outlet of the machine is an endless band g supported upon pulleys and capable of movement in the direction of the movement of the peat. The peat resting upon this band gives mot-ion to it so that the two advance together, the band forming as it were a movable support for the peat tube.

The rotary cutter blade h, having a similar.

cutting edge to those already described, is mounted upon an axis journaled immediately above the outlet of the cylinder b and driven by any suitable gear (such for example as that shown in Fig. l) so that it may pass across the said opening in the cylinder b at intervals and sever the protruding portion of the peat tube from that within the machine. A suitable roller j is mounted at the extremity of a rotating arm also pivoted over the outlet of the cylinder and caused to rotate at the same axial speed as the blade h which it follows across the outlet of the cylinder h. This roller j strikes against the newly detached portion of the peat tube and starts it rolling down an inclined board 7c from which it may be removed by hand or otherwise. In soxne cases I support the board or boards 7c on rollers or "pulleys Z (Fig. 2) so that they may be drawn forward to make place for others. In this case the table k may with advantage consist of an endless band or belt. For supporting the peat tubes during the process of drying I employ a number of Wires stretched in horizontal pairs one above the other in the manner of telegraph Wires. The peat tubes are laid upon these so that they are only supported at two points each and however closely they are placed they can only touch one another along one line, this is of course owing to their cylindrical shape. This shape cornbined with the aperture through their center greatly accelerates the process of drying and condensing.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and iu what manner the same is to be performed, I'declare that what I claim is- In a machine for preparing peat or turf for fuel, the combination of a suitable casing, partly cylindrical and partly conical, provided with longitudinal ribs m, inside one end only, rotary knives or cutters e having broad cutting edges, fixed cutting blades f against which the cutting edges of said knives or cutters e act, and a screw a part of which is tapered and the end of the axis of which forms a revolving core, substantially as and for the purposes herein before set forth.

OSMOND GILLES BLUNDEN.

lVitnesscs: Y

HORACE E. CoULsoN,

54 Fleet Street, London. THOMAS LAKE, Gracechu'rch Street, London. 

